Terry the Baddie

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 1 Apr 2016 22:47
Terry, the Saltwater Baddie
 
 
 
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Our final exhibit at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. The water was murky, the glass was salt stained but we could still feel the menace of Terry, ‘a true Territorian’ was wild caught from Darwin Harbour in April 2002 and transported to Alice Springs on a car transporter. Terry is a male and when captured was about ten years old, his weight approximately two hundred kilograms, he is 3.3 point three metres long and equipped with jaws able to deliver three tonnes of crushing power. Interestingly, despite the strong muscles to close the jaw, crocodiles have extremely small and weak muscles to open the jaw, it still takes several times around with duct tape to keep their mouth safely snapped shut.
 
 
Salty  Distribution  Australian 1948
 
A ‘salty’ in the wild, their distribution and a 1948 stamp.
 
 
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This dragonfly had no idea what he was hovering next to........
 
Terry was named by Bianca, a ten year old girl who won a naming competition held to find a suitable name for him. Terry, Bianca said, was short for “Territorian” and the Reptile Centre thought that was great.
Terry went on display in July 2002 after an initial settling in period. He is classified as a rogue crocodile and therefore extremely dangerous and as the centre is unable to add further crocodiles to the facility he is destined to remain a bachelor. Most crocs caught in Darwin Harbour are usually sent to Top End Crocodile farms.
 
 
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The glass between us and Terry in the downstairs viewing gallery is reinforced forty millimetres thick weighing over five hundred kilograms. Amazing to stand, in geographic terms, so close to this ancient looking creature, not a single movement except for the tiny ‘waggle’ under his throat and stare at his unique dentistry. Terry behaves like any wild crocodile during the day, either resting silent underwater or basking in the sun. Crocodiles are mainly nocturnal and take most of their food at night and during the wet season from October through to April however, they will feed all year round if circumstances permit. Crocodiles have a varied diet consisting of fish, turtles, birds, small mammals and even large prey including horses, buffalo and the odd human......... and catch most of their prey at the waters edge. There are around twenty to thirty attacks each year on humans resulting in one or two deaths. Most ‘problem’ crocodiles are male.
 
 
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Terry’s front left foot, any self respecting dinosaur would be proud to call its own.....
 
 
Jumping
 
Incredible to think these apparently sedentary, heavy creatures can, in a split second, leap at speed. Terry’s eyes are cat-like being adapted for night vision. His sense of hearing, especially in the lower spectrum is exceptional. A large crocodile can stay underwater for up to three hours; Terry is able to stay under for an hour but usually surfaces to take a breath every fifteen to twenty five minutes, whilst under water the crocodile closes its nostrils and a flap of tissue seals the back of the mouth to prevent water from entering the lungs.
Terry’s pond contains diluted saltwater maintained at twenty three degrees Centigrade during winter and thirty degrees during summer (just like Darling Harbour). The water is heated by a computer controlled solar hot water system with extra heating supplied by an on-demand ORIGIN gas powered heating unit supplying additional heat during cold winter nights.
 
 
Lolong, the biggest ever caught 6.17 metres or 20feet 3 inches 1075 kilos
 
The Australian saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus prosus inhabit the tropical northern areas along the coastline of Australia. Large specimens may reach over six metres and weigh over a tonne, however, most male crocodiles have an average length of four metres and may live for as long as a hundred years. The picture is of Lolong, the biggest ever caught, 6.17 metres long, weighing 1075 kilograms.
 
 
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We left Terry with no real wish to meet one in the wild......
 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL AMAZING POWER UP CLOSE OR FOR THAT MATTER, AT A DISTANCE.......
                     PREHISTORIC MONSTER WITH ATTITUDE